R.I.P MR NICE

ABOVE : Howard Marks in his prime …

WHETHER ONE LOVE’S HIM OR LOATHES HIM … HOWARD MARKS , DESCRIBED AS BRITAIN’S BEST LOVED , RETIRED INTERNATIONAL DOPE DEALER , SADLY LOSES HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER, AND PASSED AWAY AGED 70 ON 10 APRIL 2016 , WITH HIS FAMILY AROUND HIM .

FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL …AS A LONG STANDING FRIEND WE WISH HOWARD’S FAMILY ALL THE VERY BEST DURING THESE DIFFICULT TIMES

ABOVE IS A BRIEF VIDEO NEWS RELEASE OF THE SAD DEATH OF HOWARD MARKS

ABOVE AND BELOW : A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME OF THE HOWARD MARKS COLLAGES ON DISPLAY HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL …

Diagnosis was in autumn last year but he has now ‘come to terms with it’

Mr Marks, who spent seven years in a US prison, has no regrets

His bestselling memoir Mr Nice was turned into a film starring Rhys Ifans

Now, his aim is to continue his battle for the legalisation of marijuana

Celebrity friends are holding a concert in his honour to raise funds for treatment and to set up a charitable foundation

PUBLISHED: 13:37, 25 January 2015 | UPDATED: 16:49, 25 January 2015

Former drug smuggler Howard Marks – once known as Mr Nice – has revealed he has inoperable bowel cancer.

The 69-year-old, who spent seven years in a US prison, was diagnosed in autumn last year but said he has now ‘come to terms with it’.

And after selling more than a million copies of his memoir, published in 1996, and being captured on screen by actor Rhys Ifans, Mr Marks says he has no regrets.

A recent photograph of Howard Marks , February 2015 , at the time he revealed that he had been diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer

Above is a picture of Howard Marks at his most recent event , staged at the Forum , London on 27 February 2015.

HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL WE TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY TABOO AND TRUE CRIME SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTION DARE COVER . (IT’S HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!!!…ISN’T IT ?)

A VERY BRIEF PICTORIAL MONTAGE INSIGHT INTO THE EXPLOITS AND INTERNATIONAL HEADLINE NEWS SURROUNDING ONE OF THE UK’S MOST INFAMOUS AND NOTORIOUS DRUGS SMUGGLERS …… NOW FAMED AUTHOR HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL SEEN HERE WITH HOWARD MARKS AT A PRIVATE BASH IN LONDON BACK IN JANUARY 2011

AN INTRIGUING INTERACTIVE VIDEO INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HOWARD MARKS …NR NICE

Howard Marks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Howard Marks (born 13 August 1945) is a Welsh author and drug smuggler who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug Enforcement Administration. At the height of his drug career, he was said to have controlled 10% of the world’s hashish trade.[1]

Marks was born in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales, and attended the Garw Grammar School in Pontycymer (he is a fluent Welsh speaker[2]). This was followed by Balliol College, Oxford, between 1964 and 1967, where he studied natural science with nuclear physics. Among his friends at Balliol was the epidemiologist Julian Peto, and the journalist Lynn Barber. After this he studied Physics (Grad. Inst P.) at the University of London (1967 to 1968). Then, he went back to Balliol, Oxford (1968 to 1969) to study History and Philosophy of Science (Dip. H.Ph. Sc.) and then he went on to theUniversity of Sussex (1969 to 1970) to study Philosophy of Science.

He spent seven years imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana. During his smuggling career, he claims not to have used violence and to have refused to deal with hard drugs. Both he and his now ex-wife Judy Marks were extradited from Mallorca, Spain to Florida. They have three children together: Amber, Francesca and Patrick. He also has an older daughter, Myfanwy, from a 5-year relationship with Rosie Lewis.

Following his release from prison, Marks published a best-selling autobiography, Mr Nice (Secker and Warburg, 1996), which has been translated into many languages. In addition to Mr Nice, he compiled an anthology called The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories (Vintage, 2001) and more recently a follow-on from his autobiography; Señor Nice: Straight Life From Wales to South America.Señor Nice differs from his previous book as drugs are not central to the story and, while autobiographical, the book is more Marks’ own exploration of his ancestor, the pirate Sir Henry Morgan.[3]

Judy Marks has also written her autobiography of their life together entitled “Mr Nice and Mrs Marks” published by Ebury Press, 2006.

Marks recorded the song ‘Grow More Weed’ with the UK dub punk band P.A.I.N.

Within the world of music, Marks co-recorded a song ‘Three men in a boat’ with his long time friend Lee Harris. The record was later remixed by River Styx (Musician, rap poet) and released on the album ‘Angel Headed Hip Hop’ on Genepool/Universal Ltd.

Marks had a role as a customs officer in the planned film Ecstasy, based on the bestselling book by Irvine Welsh and also made a cameo appearance in the 1999 film Human Traffic (in the “spliff politics” scene).

In 2010, he played a fictional role in the infamous gangster movie Killer Bitch directed by Liam Galvin.[4] He is also the subject of a biopic starring Rhys Ifans as Marks entitled Mr Nice, named after hisautobiography of the same name. Chloë Sevigny plays the role of his wife Judy. The film was released in October 2010.